At this moment, Lin Fengyao had already washed his hands and couldn't wait to run towards the kitchen. Seeing his mother eating pork cracklings so happily, he thought it must be delicious. He jumped up to Song Anxin and said, "Mom, Mom, I want to eat too! I want to eat too!"
Song Anxin grabbed a few at random and put them into his mouth.
Lin Fenghe was surprised to find that it was mixed with white sugar, and exclaimed, "Wow, it's so delicious! It's even better than the meat last time."
Several boys also came over upon hearing the noise. Song Anxin fed everyone without showing favoritism, including Zhang Mei.
After being stuffed with a mouthful of pork cracklings, Zhang Mei felt a little embarrassed. She was such a grown-up, yet her mother still put it in her mouth herself.
The group of people had probably never experienced such family affection before; after finishing their meal, they all stared wide-eyed at their mother.
Song Anxin: "......??"
Helpless, Song Anxin had no choice but to feed them another bite. Fortunately, Zhang Mei had already prepared the food, so she quickly called the boys to eat, fearing that if she kept feeding them bite by bite, the pork cracklings would be gone before they could even be served.
Lunch was still plain white rice, as Song Anxin had specifically ordered, along with a large bowl of pork cracklings, a plate of stir-fried mushrooms, and a wild vegetable dish. Although the meal was simple, it was considered one of the best in the village.
After everyone had eaten their fill, they rested at home. It was the height of the sun, and Lin Fengnian and Lin Fengshou did not go to the fields.
Looking at the several baskets of mushrooms piled up in the corner of the yard, Lin Fengshou suddenly remembered and asked, "Mom, why are you picking so many mushrooms? There are fresh ones on the mountain every day. Don't let them go bad."
Lin Fenghe, unusually eager to speak, said, "My mother said she wanted to grow mushrooms; she learned it from a book."
The eldest brother, Lin Fengnian, looked surprised: "I've heard of growing vegetables, but I've never heard of growing mushrooms."
"Oh dear! Brother, have you forgotten that our mother is the daughter of a scholar? And she said she read it in a book, so it must be true." Lin Fengshou had no doubt at all; his mother was the daughter of a scholar and the older sister of a student who had passed the preliminary examination.
Moreover, my mother was always calm and composed when she saw the county magistrate, while the wealthy landowners in the county would probably tremble in fear when they saw him.
Song Anxin was a little surprised by the level of trust her second son had in her. Although the second son was not as perceptive as the third son, he was still a smart man.
Song Anxin never imagined that she was actually the daughter of a scholar, and that she had gained a younger brother who was a successful candidate in the imperial examinations. Coupled with her performance at the county government office, she completely won over Lin Fengshou's heart, and from then on, everything she did earned his complete trust.
Song Anxin couldn't figure it out, so she simply let it go. After all, Lin Fengshou's trust in her was beneficial to her.
Upon hearing about growing mushrooms, the group immediately became interested and gathered around the baskets of mushrooms in the corner to study them.
"Isn't it just like growing vegetables, you just plant them in the ground?" Lin Fengnian said.
"Then I'll go dig now!" Lin Fengyao's rosy cheeks were flushed with excitement, his mind filled with thoughts of selling mushrooms and buying delicious food.
Song Anxin: "........" Don't ruin my mushrooms.
"I don't think so. So many mushrooms on the mountain rotted in the ground, but they didn't seem to grow back," Lin Fengshou said after thinking for a moment.
Lin Fenghe pondered for a moment, then looked at his mother and asked, "Mother, what does the book say?"
The group turned to look at their mother, and Zhang Mei joined in the fun.
Song Anxin recalled the process of growing mushrooms at home: first, she had to cultivate the spores, then she had to make a culture medium, and finally she could grow mushrooms.
Song Anxin remembered that when she was cultivating the mushroom spores, she used the cardboard boxes she received from receiving express deliveries and some toilet paper to wet them. However, in those days, paper was a precious commodity for scholars, and using it to grow mushrooms would be a waste of resources, not to mention that she couldn't afford to buy it herself.
This presented Song Anxin with a dilemma: what could she find as a substitute? Then it dawned on her: if she didn't have paper, she could use the raw materials for paper.
Song Anxin lowered her head and pondered: What are the raw materials for making paper?
Suddenly, the story of Cai Hou inventing papermaking came to Song Anxin's mind. It used materials such as tree bark, hemp fibers, straw, and rags.
"Hemp ends" refers to the broken ends of a hemp rope after it has been damaged.
These materials are readily available in the village and do not require a large expenditure of money, which immediately delighted Song Anxin.
She called her four sons to her side and instructed them to find these things.
The four sons were very efficient and quickly gathered the materials. Song Anxin brought out the buckets used to carry water at home. Originally, they were going to use a large wooden basin, but there was only one basin at home, which the family members took turns using for bathing. If they used this basin, they would probably not be able to take a bath at all.
Song Anxin soaked the ingredients in boiling water. After the water cooled down, she squeezed out the excess water, but it was necessary to keep them moist. She then broke all the ingredients into pieces and put them in a wooden bucket.
Next, take out the scissors and sterilize them with fire. Only cut the base of the mushroom, making sure the base has some debris attached. This is the best way to grow mycelium.
Song Anxin carefully cut off the mushroom roots covered in debris, placed the cut mushroom roots in the soaked sawdust and rags, covered them, and finally covered the bucket with straw and placed it in a cool, dark place.
The younger children watched their mother work intently, and after Song Anxin finished, they all looked around the wooden tub in amazement.
Lin Fengnian asked, "Will mushrooms grow like this?" He had been farming for so many years and had never seen a method of growing things like this before.
The others also found it incredible, their five pairs of eyes filled with great questions.
Song Anxin smiled and said, "Of course not, this is just cultivating mycelium, which is also called spawn. It will take about twenty days for the mycelium to grow, and then we can plant mushrooms."
The group of people had an "I see" expression on their faces.
“However, this is not enough; not many mushrooms will grow if we plant them,” Song Anxin continued.
Lin Fengshou said with great interest, "Mom, then I'll go up the mountain with you this afternoon to pick some more mushrooms."
Lin Fengnian said, "I will also go up the mountain to chop firewood this afternoon. After I finish chopping, I will gather the firewood with you."
Song Anxin readily agreed. She realized that to cultivate more bacteria, she would need several more pots. Then she remembered that her eldest brother, Lin, had some carpentry skills. If he could make chairs so well, making a few pots wouldn't be a problem.
So he asked Lin Fengnian to go to Sister-in-law Lin's house and ask Brother Lin to make a few wooden basins, so that the compensation would be settled with him when it arrived.
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In the afternoon, only the three brothers Lin Fengnian, Lin Fenghe, and Lin Fengyao went up the mountain with Song Anxin. When Lin Fengshou and the others were leaving, they were called away by his two good friends in the village, Han Xiaohe and Lin Shitou, as if something had happened.
Zhang Mei continued to stay home and look after the house.
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